"You have got to be kidding."

Hitsugaya folded his arms across his chest. "Have you met me? I'm the tenth division captain. I don't kid."

Urahara sighed theatrically, his fan snapping shut. "She's too young," he hissed at Hitsugaya. "And shouldn't you talk this over with Ichigo as well?"

"No," Hitsugaya said, his eyes flicking to where Karin was yelling at Jinta, and the hapless Ururu was trying to calm them both down. "I know she's young, but we do have the time to train a potentially strong shinigami."

"She's a kid. She shouldn't be involved in this."

"She lives in Karakura and she's a Kurosaki. She is already involved."

"You're making a huge assumption here, Hitsugaya-taichou."

"I'm taking the same risk you did when you took the orange-haired idiot in as your apprentice."

"He wasn't my apprentice," Urahara clarified. Then he sighed again. "I'll let you use my basement, but I'm not taking any part in this venture. I don't want Ichigo and her f... friends to blame me for killing Karin."

"I'm not going to kill her," protested the white-haired captain.

"You might end up doing so nonetheless."

"I won't."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Karin pointed at Jinta's nose. "You're the one who's deluded, moron. I'm Karakura Red, and always will be!"

"Red? You? Don't make me laugh! You're the weakest of the group," growled Jinta. The broom waved over his head, dirt and dust sprinkling over himself. "Eurgh!"

"Ha! A Karakura Red that doesn't even know how to use a broom!" sneered Karin.

Ururu tried to get them to stop, but her meek voice was unheard over the insults being flung from boy to girl to boy.

"What are they arguing about?" Ururu jumped when she heard Hitsugaya's voice beside her.

"Some... ranking thing we have, Hitsugaya-taichou. They both want to be Karakura Red."

"Is red the strongest?"

"Yes. At least it's supposed to be until Kanonji-san added a Karakura Gold."

"... From what I heard you should be Red." He gave her a small smile.

Ururu brightened. "Really?"

Hitsugaya didn't deny it. He hollered, "Karin Kurosaki! Come here!"

"Don't yell my full name, idiot!" Karin snapped at him. Then she shrank back when he threw her the evil eye. "I meant, I heard you, sir."

"A Red calling someone else sir..." Jinta drawled. Karin narrowed her eyes, then smiled so sweetly that Urahara and Hitsugaya were both taken aback.

"You know, Yuzu was thinking of switching grocery stores. Perhaps I should encourage her to try the shop down the road. This place is shabby and overpriced..."

"The Goddess Yuzu? You wouldn't do that," said Jinta urgently. "Tell me you wouldn't do that. You wouldn't. Would you?"

"Provide us with good food and drink and we'll see," Karin said. The smile grew into a grin and a wink at Hitsugaya, who groaned and shook his head.

If she was this manipulative at this age, what would she be like at seventeen?

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"So. What am I supposed to do?"

Hitsugaya sat cross legged on a rock. "I'm gonna push your soul out of your body. Ever experience it before?"

"No." She looked around. "And this is a frikkin' huge basement. Did my brother train here too?"

"Focus, Karin." Her dark eyes returned to his face, and he noted the slight hesitation behind the bored drawl. He relented. "Yes, Ichigo did train here. He's now training elsewhere."

"Hitsugaya-taichou! What are you doing here?"

Karin watched the tall redhead stride over, dressed in the same black robes as her brother did. Behind the stranger was someone familiar...

"You're Ichigo's sister." The broad-shouldered dark-haired teenager said.

"You're the guy who almost got killed and then disappeared without a trace and didn't even bother to come find us to say he's all right. My name's Karin."

"Sado."

Hitsugaya was amused. "You just rattled that off in one breath."

Karin shrugged. "It's a talent."

"Someone forget about me?" the redhead said. He stretched a hand out to Karin. "Abarai Renji."

"Kurosaki Karin. Nice tattoos."

"Thanks. You're the idiot's sister? You look smarter than he is."

"Not that hard a feat to manage, really," Karin deadpanned. Abarai reminded her of Ichigo. "How did you get to know my brother?"

"I almost killed him, he almost killed me, we almost got killed by the same bastard." Off Karin's look, Abarai shrugged. "It's a guy bonding thing."

"Yeah. Only guys can be that stupid."

Hitsugaya's reproving glare probably lasered its way through the back of Karin's head. She ducked and muttered, "Fine, fine... My bad."

"Abarai, I'm going to train her here. You two stay far away from us with your bankai and the blasts from your arm."

"She's going to be a shinigami?" Sado asked.

Hitsugaya nodded. "Don't tell Ichigo yet until I'm certain she can work out."

"Standing right here," Karin protested. The 'stupid guys' ignored her and discussed something else for a while before Abarai and Sado walked off.

"Where was I?" Hitsugaya returned his attention to Karin.

"Pushing my soul out of my body. But if my soul's out of my body, won't I be dead?"

"First of all we need to see if you can move about easily as a spirit. Otherwise it is better for you not to train as a shinigami."

"So? De-soul me already." She clasped her hands behind her back. Hope it won't hurt.

Hitsugaya had borrowed a glove from Urahara, and he yanked Karin out of Karin.

"Okay, that was weird." Karin fell to her knees abruptly. She ignored the chain in the center of her chest."Is it always so difficult to breathe in soul form? I feel like... Like I'm under water of something."

"Now's the time to find out if you can make the grade," Hitsugaya ignored her question. He passed her a large pail of water balloons. "If you can tag me with any one of these, we'll move on to the next stage."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Karin hefted one in her hand. It can't possibly weigh a ton, she told herself. Her arm told her otherwise. Maybe I should have trained as a baseball player instead.

"Ready? Go."

Hitsugaya was at least twenty paces away. He was not even running, Karin noted. So he looked down on her, huh?

She hurled the one in her hand as hard as she could. In theory it should soar and hit her target. Instead it fell to the ground and, to her embarrassed anger, didn't even burst.

"I'm waiting."

Karin gritted her teeth. She could do this. Closing her eyes, she visualized the water balloon cruising in a perfect arc, landing on Hitsugaya's white hair, water dripping down his arrogant face...

"I'm still waiting."

"Oh yes you are," she murmured under her breath. She opened her eyes and threw the next one. It did fly through the air but landed halfway between her target and herself. She sighed and took a third one.

"Ready when you are," he called out. He had actually sat down. Karin fumed.

No one said you had to throw these, dumbass. He said 'tag him'.

Who is this talking in my head?

Yourself, dumbass. Go on. Your strength is in your speed and your kick, not some lamebrain throwing. What did you think this was, Slam Dunk?

Karin inhaled and took more water balloons with her left hand. Here goes nothing.

She ran. Hitsugaya got to his feet and sidestepped smartly, and in a flash he was gone. Karin frowned and hung a U. Hitsugaya was right beside the pail of her ammunition. She dashed again, her right hand holding the water balloon by her hip.

He had a little smirk on his face, she noticed. Then she smiled and threw the balloon in her left hand. Hitsugaya ducked away, eyebrows raised in polite surprise. Before he could speak she had dropped the water balloon in her right hand and was balancing it on her foot.

"How are you going to kick that?" he inquired. "You'll burst it when you kick it."

"There are other techniques in football, kiddo," she answered, and, with a slight dip of her foot, sent the orb soaring. He ducked that one but was almost hit by one falling over the ceiling.

"Missed me-"

Karin was by his side, her last water balloon touching his shoulder. "Tag. You're it."

"You feel any difficulty moving now?"

"What?" Karin was expecting him to retaliate, not a question. She inhaled, exhaled, swung her arms. "No. I feel just as like I usually do... you got tagged on purpose!" Her eyes widened with indignant realization.

Hitsugaya's smile was just a little bit patronizing.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Urahara watched the two training pairs from his place near the ladder.

"I like the idea of water balloons," he admitted to Tessai. "But it's a lot more fun to have Ururu beat the crap out of Ichigo, no?"

"Right you are, boss."

Urahara unfolded his fan. "Ask Yoruichi to come by here, will ya? I think her input would be valuable. The girl... if I'm not wrong, and I hope I'm not... the girl will need Yoruichi's guidance."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Karin doodled in the sand. "How did he cart all the sand and rocks away anyway?"

"I've no idea. Focus, Karin."

"Yes, sir."

The drawl was not lost on the captain. He rapped her over the head with his zanpakuto. Hitsugaya said, "I'm going to cut this chain. It effectively means you're dead – and you won't be able to go back into your body without becoming a shinigami or a hollow."

"Hollow... you mean those monsters with the skull masks?"

"Yes. That's what you will turn into if you don't become shinigami by the end of three days."

"How are you going to force the shinigami part out of me?"

"We'll seal you into a pit. You can turn out as a hollow and I will perform the soul burial on you, or you can turn shinigami and come out of there yourself. I'd prefer the second option."

"Me too." She stretched and worked the kinks out of her neck. "So who's doing the sealing?"

"I am."

Karin turned about. Her jaw dropped, but only for the five seconds it took for her to regain her composure.

Hitsugaya scowled. "I thought Urahara said he was keeping out of this?"

"He said he was. I didn't say I won't help. Karin, is it?"

Karin found her voice. "You're a cat."

"That I am," the black feline said smoothly. "You have a problem with that?"

"No. Not at all. Just... trying to absorb the fact that a cat is talking to me!" She breathed out. "Okay. Now I'm okay."

"She's just like her brother-"

"-don't compare me to that idiot, alright?"

Yoruichi murmured below her breath and Karin's arms snapped to her sides. Soon a pit yawned before the prone Karin's face.

"That's where I'm headed?"

"Yes." Hitsugaya carried her over his shoulders and jumped in. He had surprisingly broad shoulders, Karin thought irreverently, then her mind shrieked as he tossed her onto the cool floor. He looked at her once more, almost coldly, and said, "I'm cutting your chain now. It will start disintegrating. If it reaches the lock in your chest, you become a hollow. Don't let it happen."

"It won't," said Karin, sounding more confident than she felt. He took out his sword and stabbed through the links. She took in a shuddering breath. "Here it goes."

I won't die here.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"You really dug an unbelievable shaft, Ururu," said Yoruichi as Hitsugaya sprinted out of the pit.

The youngest captain sat by the edge. "Yoruichi-san, what binding spell did you use?"

"The nineties." Yoruichi padded over to the watchful captain. "She's almost as strong as Ichigo. How come we didn't feel that before?"

"Because the orange-haired idiot's reiatsu masked everyone else's." Hitsugaya grunted. "I don't know if I'm doing the right thing here."

"We need all the strength we can get, Hitsugaya-taichou."

"I'm risking her life."

The black cat curled up beside him, her long tail twitching. Hitsugaya smiled as her warm furry body pressed into his leg.

"You don't want to pet a fuzzy animal? Give a kitty a furry belly rub?"

"You're naked, Yoruichi-san. I think it's improper."

"Hmmph. You're no fun."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Karin stilled her breath. The links chewing themselves out – she'd never seen the phrase used literally until now – wore her out. At least now they were quiescent.

She got to her feet. No point trying to run up the pit; it was pretty much a vertical climb. She could feel energy draining out of her, and she was dying for a drink.

But then, she was dead, wasn't she? How could she still be thirsty?

"I need to become shinigami," she told herself. "Find a way, brain."

Her anger rose. Shouldn't Hitsugaya have told her more? Like, how was she supposed to know what to chant or do or sing to become a shinigami?

It's because you're supposed to know instinctively.

Is this my head talking to me again? Because this is getting creepy.

Okay, fine, call me Karin v2.0 then.

Whatever. How the hell am I supposed to do this?

Look inside you. Which part of you do you think is meant to be your strength? How do you know you're meant to be a shinigami instead of a hollow?

I'm Ichigo's sister. Of course I'm a shinigami.

'Of course'? Yuzu is Ichigo's sister too, and she ain't here.

I'm better at fighting.

So?

I'm better at controlling my emotions.

So?

I'm great at football.

So?

I'm... I know I can do this. I know I am meant to help my idiot brother out.

I know I'm a shinigami, because...

Because?

"It's in my blood," Karin whispered. Her dark eyes snapped open. Her skin was buzzing. "I'm a shinigami because it is in my blood."

She looked up. She could not tell how long it had since been. Out of the blue the pain began again: the links were disintegrating. She had about half a meter left of chain.

Karin shivered and shook as the links ate themselves up. Her vision grew fuzzy and the pit faded from view.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"Took you long enough, dimwit!"

Karin's patience snapped. Her eyes opened and her breath caught in her throat. This was a beautiful place.

"I'm in an ocean," she whispered. Coral of multiple hues waved below her; fish swam by, their fins flashing silver-gold-silver-gold. "I'm breathing and talking in an ocean."

"Yeah, yeah, wonderful world... focus here, will ya?"

Karin blinked and finally noticed the person talking to her. Karin blinked again. "What in the world are you?"

"Be polite, girlie. I'm fdasrnklrn." He swished his silver-green tail. Long tendrils of sea-blue hair flowed with each movement he made, the elegance of which contrasted sharply with his sarcastic tone and abrasive manner.

"You're who or what again?"

"Urgh. I hate these rules. Now, in a moment something's gonna happen. Find the odd one out. That's about as much as I can say."

"What? What's gonna happen?"

The entire ocean shook, as if someone had thrown a pebble two hundred miles across into it. Karin felt herself tumble end over end.

The merman hollered, his musical voice rippling, "That!"